The present invention pertains to the field of methods and apparatus for use in labeling compact disks. More specifically, the method and apparatus utilizes adhesive stickers to affix ownership information to the compact disk.
Compact disks are optical storage media used to store sound recordings, computer programs, or computer-accessible data. The disks are typically made of plastic material in which laser-readable data tracks are embedded. In recent years, compact disks have become the medium of choice for sales of sound recordings and large compilations of personal computer-accessible information because the disks are very small and can store tremendous amounts of information. Compact disk users often expend large sums of money to acquire a small-to-medium sized collection of fifty sound recording disks having an average cost of sixteen dollars apiece. Compact disks that are used with computers can each be worth fifty to a hundred dollars or more. The cost of replacing a collection of compact disks in an individual home can be substantial. Additionally, many disks cannot even be replaced because the production run of that particular disk has ended or is out of date.
Compact disks are often stolen or misplaced. A thief can quickly and easily remove the disks from a disk storage location in a home or an automobile. The stolen disks are easily concealed in a pocket or a purse. Specialty shops that deal in resale of sound recording disks have enhanced the market for stolen disks. In other instances, an individual may lend a disk to another person who forgets to return the disk to its rightful owner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,246 describes a labeling kit that can be used to stamp compact disks with printed indicia which serves to identify the owner of the compact disk. A number of problems derive from the use of ink on the stamping apparatus. Blurring of the printed indicia on the compact disk occurs as the stamp is inadvertently rotated while it is compressed against the compact disk. Additionally, the dried ink is readily scratched from the plastic to which it is applied. The removal of ink from the compact disk erases all evidence of prior ownership. Inadvertent scratching of the ink produces a residue that may interfere with the internal components of the disk drive mechanisms which are used to read information from the disk.
There exists a need for an improved disk labeling system that does not produce blurred printed indicia, and which provides a label that cannot be easily removed from the compact disk.
The present invention overcomes the problems that are outlined above by providing a permanently mounted destructible adhesive sticker or label for use in identifying the owner of a compact disk. The sticker can be applied to the compact disk through the use of a special labeling system. The present invention also contemplates tracking the disk ownership through an ownership database.
An adhesive sticker according to the present invention is made of a circular sheet of material having a central circular aperture of a diameter (e.g., greater than 15 mm) sufficient to circumscribe the central opening in a compact disk without protruding into the opening where the sticker would, otherwise, interfere with the operation of the disk drive mechanism. The sheet of materials add excessive weight that can interfere with the operation of the disk drive mechanism. The most preferred sticker thickness ranges from 0.03 to 0.2 mm. The outer sticker diameter is preferably less than 29.2 mm because this diameter corresponds to the size of a central depression that is found on most commercially available sound recording disks.
The circular sheet of material has a first face that bears printed indicia which serves to identify an owner of the compact disk to which the sticker is attached. The circular sheet of material has an adhesively backed second face that is remote from the first face. The adhesive on the second face adheres to the plastic of a compact disk with a force that normally precludes removal of the circular sheet of material without tearing thereof. This feature of the sticker adhesive makes the sticker destructible in the event that someone attempts to remove the sticker from the compact disk.
The sticker is preferably affixed to the compact disk through the use of a special labeling system. The labeling system includes a base plate having a central upwardly raised platform and a central cylinder that is raised to a greater height than the platform. A pestle is used to press the sticker against the compact disk when the cylinder is inserted through a hole in the disk and a central opening in the sticker. They system serves to align the sticker on the disk with extremely close tolerances to prevent the disk from becoming unbalanced by an eccentric sticker.